🧵A writer's published work should not be yanked from circulation because it sparks public outcry or sharp disagreement. At its best, literature is a bridge, connecting us across differences; writers help guide the rest of us across that bridge.
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Individuals are free to respond, rebut or criticize as they choose. But to erase the work of a writer who sought to grapple with the complexities of the war in Gaza in her own life is to set a dangerous precedent at odds with the freedom to read and the values of free expression.
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The pressures on US cultural institutions in this moment—from without and within—are immense. Those with a mission to foster discourse should do so by safeguarding the freedom to write, read, imagine and tell stories—protecting liberties that will point us to a better future.
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In our Booklash report, PEN America examined the pressures facing publishers to pull 'problematic' books based on public outcry, and the associated threats to free expression. (4/4)
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@PENamerica
Citing someone calling the bombs being used to massacre Gaza “good booms,” without absolute disavowal and condemnation, isn’t bridge-building, it’s genocide apologia.
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@PENamerica
You’re very selective in what you speak up for, aren’t you? Also let’s not forget PEN was still accepting funding from the Israeli govt until 2017.
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@PENamerica
people can write what they want
that alone does not shield them when what they write is abhorrent
the freedom to write horrible things doesn't take away anyone else's right to be angered by that writing
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@PENamerica
Did you say something? Only I couldn't hear you over the screams of the people of Gaza.
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@PENamerica
I don't think you understand - nobody with a conscience wants to cross that bridge between "differences". Because one of those differences is support of Israel's genocide.
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@PENamerica
Every publication has its own mission and center of gravity. This is not about something being "yanked," but about the deep-seated convictions of much of the staff that the decisions that governed the publication of the essay were not in keeping with the ideals of the journal.
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